Catch the Excitement!

The summer season is upon us, and with that are fun events, both indoors and out. Let's see what Night Sky Network Clubs are up to and catch the excitement of what they have to offer.

Tammy Plotner at the Warren Rupp Observatory had this to say about the presentation and star party they did for the Hidden Hollow Campers in Ohio: "We started the kids off outdoors with a fog machine and black lights portraying star birth. Then indoors in the observatory dome for a full presentation from the Night Sky Network with some upbeat music. These kids had the time of their life!! This program ROCKS with teens!"

While passing out International Year of Astronomy (IYA) stickers, Solar system posters, Solar system rulers and IYA bookmarks, Keith Little of the San Antonio Astronomical Association exclaimed: "Our 'Amazing Skies' event was held on a Sunday afternoon with over 1,300 visitors. Our 8 learning stations, and 9 solar observing stations were constantly busy. This just shows how hungry the general public is for science and astronomy. The Night Sky Network materials are invaluable for teaching and demonstrating."

Dwight Dulsky, and his fellow amateur astronomers of the Bucks-Mont Astronomical Association were at the Ockanickon Boy Scout Camp in Pennsylvania, to conduct a class on the Kepler Mission's search for extrasolar planets. Dwight commented: "In our mobile planetarium we began by pointing out the Summer Triangle and noting the Kepler search area is between the bright stars Deneb and Vega while using the Night Sky Network Kepler PowerPoint presentation. At certain spots we paused to demonstrate a few activities. One was using the yellow demonstration balls from the PlanetQuest materials to show how astronomers have detected star movement and wobble in addition to transits to find planets outside our Solar System. All in all, this was an excellent indoor presentation for this teenage audience."

At the Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia, the Central Appalachian Astronomy Club of West Virginia (CAACWV) held their annual Star Party. And a star party it was. Steven Ahrens of the CAACWV told us of the stars in person that were there: "We were fortunate enough to have a NASA Mobile Lunar Exhibit. It had a real honest to goodness Moon Rock you could touch! On top of that we had astronaut Alan Bean, of the famed Apollo 12. He gave great presentation!"

Find your local astronomy club and become a part of this exciting stellar network too.

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